Green goddess dressing is a creamy salad dressing made with plenty of fresh herbs. Learn how to easily make this scrumptious dressing at home.
Creamy and loaded with nutrients, you’ll love the flavor of this Green Goddess Dressing recipe. Even those who are not so keen on green food will enjoy it.
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Check out our best vegan sauce recipes.
Green Goddess Dressing definitely wins the coolest name award for any dressing ever invented. And its flavor it's pretty delicious too.
This fresh, bright, and herbaceous dressing was first invented in the 1920s at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco by Head Chef Philip Roemer.
The chef wanted to pay homage to actor George Arliss who was staying at the hotel while touring the US with his play "The Green Goddess". Roemer served the dressing on a salad, and it quickly became a hit.
The original recipe is heavy on mayo and sour cream and it also includes anchovies. We make a version of the Green Goddess Salad Dressing that is vegan, replacing anchovies with capers.
We also replace the mayonnaise with vegan mayo and the sour cream with dairy-free yogurt (you can use any yogurt, from greek yogurt to soy yogurt).
The result is a vegan green goddess dressing that feels modern, lighter, and still packed with plenty of fresh green herbs that give it that classic green goddess taste.
And best of all, this dressing goes way beyond salads. think of it like something that you can drizzle on pretty much anything. See our "serving suggestions" chapter for ideas on how to use it.
P.s. This dressing is forgiving. Take our recipe as a guideline and change up the fresh herbs depending on what you have available at your local store or in your garden.
Ingredients
Green Fresh Herbs: you can really use anything green herb for this dressing. Most often we use flat-leaf parsley, basil, dill, mint, and chives.
When we find it we add tarragon - a key ingredient in the original Green Goddess Recipe but that is hard to find these days, and sometimes cilantro. As I mentioned, don't worry if you can't find all the herbs. You can make this dressing with what you have.
Capers: we use capers to replace the anchovies in the original recipe. They add saltiness, umami, and a pleasantly tangy and refreshing flavor.
Garlic: a small clove is enough. We don't want too much garlic flavor here. Plus, garlic gets more intense as the dressing sits in the fridge. You can even start with half clove if you want it less garlicky.
Olive oil: to help blend the herbs and carry their flavor.
Lemon juice: to brighten things up, and make the dressing fresh and light.
Yogurt: you can use any type of yogurt, although we found that thicker yogurt works best. We like to use soy yogurt. Greek yogurt works really well too.
Vegan Mayo: to make a lighter dressing you can skip the mayo and double up on the yogurt. However, green goddess dressing made with just yogurt is a little thin. We like to add our homemade vegan mayo to add a creamy texture, and make the dressing rounder, and silkier to the mouth. It's optional, and we often leave it out if we make this dressing for our own meals. But we recommend it if you want to impress your guests.
Salt and pepper: salt is necessary to bring out the flavor of the herbs. Freshly ground black pepper adds a nice aroma to it.
Instructions
Peel and cut the garlic lengthwise and remove its core (if any) with the tip of a knife.
Tip: we find the core of the garlic hard to digest. Removing it makes the dressing lighter.
To a blender or food processor add the fresh green herbs, garlic, capers, salt, pepper, olive oil, and lemon juice (no seeds, they are bitter).
Tip: for parsley, coriander, basil, tarragon, and dill you can add the stems. For mint only add leaves.
Pulse a few times till the herbs are blended. You might have to scrape down the sides of your blender. If your blender is struggling to catch on to the herbs, add the yogurt.
Add the yogurt and the vegan mayo. Pulse a few times till well combined with the herbs. Taste and adjust for salt before serving.
Serving suggestions
You can use green goddess dressing to season salads of course, but also as a dip or to drizzle on veggies and tofu:
- Boiled and roasted vegetables: you can make a quick and easy dinner with sliced boiled potatoes and roasted peppers, drizzled with this delicious dressing.
- Vegan salad and grain bowl: the goddess dressing brightens up most salads from tofu salad, couscous salad, and quinoa salad.
- Drizzled on broccoli: grilled, steamed, or with roasted broccoli.
- With sweet potato: it's fun and colorful with roasted sweet potatoes or drizzled on top of stuffed and baked sweet potatoes.
- As a dip with fries: it goes with any type of fries; potatoes, zucchini fries, and carrot fries.
- As a sauce next to protein: it gives bold flavor to marinated tofu, vegan fish, and fried tofu
Quite frankly, the green goddess sauce is as versatile as you want it to be. It brightens up plant-based protein as well as fresh and cooked veggies.
More sauces
If you're looking for more vegan sauces, take a peek at our selection of favorite sauces here:
- Cilantro lime dressing: light and aromatic, this Tex-Mex sauce is perfect with salads and roasted veggies.
- Romesco sauce: a rich and bell pepper-packed condiment for anything grilled.
- Chipotle sauce: is great with most vegetable sides, think french fries, baked vegetables, and onion rings.
- Chimichurri sauce: herby and bold; a great addition to roasted veggies and chickpea salad.
- Mustard dressing: a classic salad dressing with steamed veggies, such as asparagus and artichokes.
- Vegan mayo: creamy, thick, and perfect as a dip with basically anything.
- Chili oil: perfect for a pungent infusion in soups, tofu recipes, and most pasta recipes.
What are your favorite go-to sauces? Let us know in the comments below, we'd love to hear from you!
Questions
Yes, green goddess dressing is gluten-free, provided that the yogurt and the vegan mayo that you use are gluten-free.
Yes. To make it oil-free replace the olive oil and the mayonnaise with yogurt. Add all ingredients to a blender, and pulse until well combined.
Yes, you can replace the mayo in green goddess dressing with the same quantity of yogurt.
Storage
Store green goddess dressing in the refrigerator, preferably in an airtight container such as a mason jar, for up to 5 days. This dressing does not freeze well.
Recipe
Green Goddess Dressing
Equipment
- Blender or food processor
Ingredients
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup packed parsley
- ¼ cup packed basil or cilantro
- ¼ cup packed dill
- ¼ cup packed chives or green onions
- ¼ cup mint leaves or tarragon
- 2 teaspoons capers
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 twists black pepper
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ½ cup yogurt unsweetened, dairy-free yogurt or Greek yogurt
- ½ cup vegan mayo
Instructions
- Peel and cut the garlic lengthwise and remove its core (if any) with the tip of a knife.Tip: we find the core of the garlic hard to digest. Removing it makes the dressing lighter.
- To a blender or food processor add the garlic, olive oil, fresh green herbs, capers, salt, pepper, and lemon juice (no seeds, they are bitter).
- Pulse a few times till the herbs are blended. You might have to scrape down the sides of your blender.
- Add the yogurt and the vegan mayo. Pulse a few times till well combined with the herbs. Taste and adjust for salt before serving.
- Serve immediately or transfer to a jar and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
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